Marcus Goguen and his fellow male skiers were unable to compete at the Freeride World Tour's (FWT) stop in Fieberbrunn, Austria due to unfavourable weather, but Goguen still topped the Cut ahead of Verbier's season finale.
The Whistlerite most recently excelled on March 1 in Georgia, overcoming illness to link a clean 360 into an equally-pristine cork 720. His 92.33 points that day were enough to deliver gold in a thrilling contest.
"I always aim for smooth landings, but more than that, I push my limits and strive to improve with every competition," said Goguen in a press release about his run. "Georgia's mountain ranges are spectacular, unlike anything I've seen before, and I hope to return to explore more of this incredible terrain."
Goguen won last year's Yeti Xtreme Verbier, but hot on his heels in the overall standing is Martin Bender who looks to triumph on home snow when it matters most. 2023 FWT king Valentin Rainer is also in the fold with one silver and two fourth-place results in the present campaign. Meanwhile, Swedes Kristofer Turdell and Carl Regner Eriksson fought back from lukewarm starts to qualify themselves for Verbier.
Canadian two-time Olympic moguls medallist Justine Dufour-Lapointe has a slim edge over her French rival Astrid Cheylus in the women's ski rankings. An untimely injury forced Zuzanna Witych of Poland to withdraw from contention in Verbier.
Victor de Le Rue of France leads in the men's snowboard department as he tries to hunt down older brother Xavier.
Noémie Equy, however, has already secured the title among ladies' snowboarders by reinforcing her season-long dominance with gold in Fieberbrunn. On the other hand, defending champ Erin Sauve of Rossland, B.C. missed the Cut.
60 per cent of riders advanced to the FWT Finals based on their top three performances, with ex-champions Arianna Tricomi and Elisabeth Gerritzen joining Sauve on the outside of that competitive cohort.
The Yeti Xtreme Verbier will be held from March 22 to 30.
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